The race for the top four has dragged on for several gameweeks now, but finally, in the penultimate week of the season, everything has been decided, with Chelsea and Tottenham finishing in the UEFA Champions League places.
Manchester United squandered their very slight hopes of getting into fourth, after they surprisingly drew 1-1 away to bottom-placed Huddersfield Town, a team that has won just three times in the Premier League this season.
This led to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making the claim that United are simply not good enough, and that "We got so many opportunities to grab third or fourth and weren't able to. The Europa League is the right place to be for us next year."
United were utterly dreadful for most parts against Huddersfield, and whilst they were unlucky not to get a winner, after Paul Pogba hit the woodwork twice, it was still a performance that epitomized their season, inconsistencies all round.
Arsenal also fluffed their chances of getting into the Champions League places, after what was a horrid performance at home against Brighton. Whilst they started brightly, they failed to capitalise on several missed opportunities, and as a result, they were punished by a Glenn Murray penalty.
However, whilst Arsenal may have missed on the top four, they are still in better shape than United, as they have a chance to redeem themselves and win the Europa League, as they go to the second-leg away from home against Valencia 3-1 up on aggregate.
Unai Emery has now shifted his focus completely on the Europa League, saying that "We knew it is going to be difficult but our focus is now the Europa League. We have the opportunity in the Europa League to do something important and we will try to do that."
Tottenham Hotspur are maybe the luckiest of the sides, as despite them falling to a 1-0 defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday, after two red cards, they have still practically assured themselves of Champions League football next season, barring an extraordinary turn of events, where Arsenal would score around seven goals in their next match, and Tottenham losing.
Chelsea were the only side that managed to get the result when it really matters, as they hammered Watford 3-0 at home. Whilst they were fairly ordinary in the first-half, as they were booed off in half-time, they managed to get off to a quickfire start in the second-half, scoring two goals in three minutes through Ruben Loftus-Cheek and David Luiz, with Gonzalo Higuain adding another late on.
Maurizio Sarri would gladly take finishing in the top four and winning the Europa League in his first season as Chelsea boss, especially considering the harsh criticism that he has received over the season.
The Italian said after the match that "The Europa League is also a very important competition and we want to win it because we think we deserve to win a trophy this season."
What seemed like a top four race that would drag on to the final day of the season, after all of the sides were constantly dropping points in crucial games, everything has been sorted out, and the only issue that remains to be decided is the title winner.
Manchester City have a game in hand and are two points behind Liverpool, as they host Leicester City on Monday, with the final set of fixtures taking place next Sunday, as Liverpool host Wolves and Manchester City play away to Brighton.
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